so restless and won't stay asleep..help me figure this out!

[bluedaisy]

My 13 mo dd has always had sleep troubles.

Right now it's 1:30 and for 2 hours tonight she kept repeating the same pattern - she would fall asleep, squirm and be restless for 2-5 minutes, then wake up. I got her to sleep at least 6 times and every time she wouldn't stay asleep for longer than 5 minutes. It drove me crazy! after 2 hours i gave up. now she's wide awake. at one point she just started screaming and squirming all over the place and wouldn't nurse. I had to hold her and calm her down for a few minutes before she would nurse.

she has been really, really restless for the past several weeks so this is not a new thing, but it was definitely worse tonight than normal.

some thought dh and i had:

- gas? she did pass gas a few times tonight and she had beans at lunch and dinner (she LOVES beans and eats them all the time) she also often gets a gurgle sound coming from her throat when she nurses - could this be gas? I don't really think it is because it is definitely in her throat and not her tummy

- milk allergy - she is allergic to milk (breaks out in hives) but it doesn't seem to bother her when I eat it so i haven't cut it out - most days i only have about half cup of raw milk in the morning and occasional yogurt. today i had regular milk in the morning (we were out of raw milk), some cheese at lunch and dinner, and yogurt as an afternoon snack. could an allergy also cause gas?

- cold - dh thinks she's cold (my DH is always cold!). i just read another post on here about this. our apartment is so hot (we live in university housing and have no control over the temp) and it's usually 75 or 76. she sleeps in a cotton long sleeve shirt and sweat pants without socks. if i try to put a blanket on her she kicks it off.

any other ideas????? i need sleep!!:yawning

[stormborn]

Is it possible that she's too hot? Our bedroom is kept at 58 at night and my 18 mo won't stay asleep if I put any clothing on her other than night diapers. I'm the same way; if it was 75 in there I couldn't sleep either. Maybe take her pj's off for awhile and see what happens?

I hope she sleeps for you...I know all too well how frustrating it is!

[lotus.blossom]

I agree. Try taking her jammies off. My DS is really sensitive to heat. In the fall I started putting fleece jammies on him and he wouldn't sleep well but as soon as I took them off he was fine.

She may also be having some kind of developmental milestone. Hopefully it will pass soon!

[bluedaisy]

thanks for the replies...she didn't seem hot at the time. there have been times when she's woken up sweating. it's so frustrating because we can't control the temp so sometimes it gets chilly and sometimes very hot.

also, this kind of thing happens every once in a while but the temp in our room is pretty consistent, so it doesn't really explain why last night was worse than others (she ended up staying awake for 4 hours....i am so tired today)

another thing that makes me think it may not be temp related is the episode of screaming she had - it really sounded like she was in pain.

another option is a possible ear infection. when we went for her 12 month WBV the dr said she had an infection and we hadn't seen any signs so it makes me think maybe that is what is happening now. she doesn't have a fever and she's fine during the day. she does pull on her ear sometimes and she has a few scratches on one of her ears so maybe they've been bothering her. How can I tell if it's an ear infection?

I'm thinking it was probably gas - she did pass quite a bit last night. is gripe water good for toddlers? any natural remedies for gas?

[Maluhia]

It really sounds like milk allergy to me - Can you cut out milk for 3 weeks and wait to see if that changes things?